Andy Murray addressed the media today in an emotional press conference, one in which he dropped a bomb on the Tennis world, admitting that this could be his last season on the ATP tour.
Murray has been suffering from a recurring hip injury, one that has prevented him from actively participating on tour for close to 20 months now.
Murray reached the 2nd round of the US Open after missing 5 consecutive grand slams and is currently the 230th ranked player in the world.
He has been battling injury for a long time now and had Wimbledon 2019 in mind before launching one last attempt at making it big on the tour.
Murray revealed the conversation he had with his team in mid-december, where he felt like having an end goal in front of him, one that could keep him going, and one that would be the last time he would step onto the court.
Wimbledon 2019 emerged as that end goal, but the kind of pain Murray is in right now, he feels that Wimbledon 2019 is a distant dream.
The start to Andy Murray’s press conference was very emotional 😢 pic.twitter.com/hObwoj71uo
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 11, 2019
MURRAY ON VERGE OF RETIREMENT 😢
An emotional @andy_murray is set to retire this year and would like to bow out at Wimbledon.
What has been your favourite highlight of his career? 🎾
More on the story here: https://t.co/HFchAa6ec2 pic.twitter.com/RwahqF98RX
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) January 11, 2019
Tributes have been pouring in for Andy Murray from all corners, especially from the tennis fraternity, with colleagues Kyrgios and del Potro posting emotional messages for their compatriot.
Andy, just watched your conference. Please don’t stop trying. Keep fighting. I can imagine your pain and sadness. I hope you can overcome this. You deserve to retire on your own terms, whenever that happens. We love you @andy_murray and we want to see you happy and doing well. 🙏
— Juan M. del Potro (@delpotrojuan) January 11, 2019
Andy, I know you take me for a joker most of the time, but at least hear me out on this one old friend. You will always be someone that impacted the sport in so many different ways, I know this was never the way… https://t.co/svPgWO9ONV
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 11, 2019
But the greatest tribute came in from Wimbledon, one tournament that had grieved the British fans for a long time, as number of British players had come and gone after Fred Perry, but none of them could manage to life the prestigious Wimbledon trophy.
Wimbledon broke the deadlock, winning Wimbledon in 2013, after multiple heartbreaks before that(losing the 2012 Wimbledon final to Roger).
He has won 3 grand slams and also is singles Olympic gold medallist.
For the British public, Andy Murray is one of the greatest sportsman ever, for having eased their pain of not having seen a Wimbledon champion for a long, long time.
“To Andy,
Whatever happens next, you’ve done more than you know.” Wimbledon said.
To Andy,
Whatever happens next, you’ve done more than you know.#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/0eJFHVpALG
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) January 11, 2019
Adversity. Emotion. Perseverance. Triumph. History.
A tale like no other. A player like no other.#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/dcUIl7tNr1
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) January 11, 2019
Do you think Murray will be able to play Wimbledon 2019?
